10 No-Fuss Ways to Increase Your Hotel Banquet Sales

Recently, I attended a hospitality conference in Mumbai to gather stories and quotes. It was hosted in one of the fine 5-star hotels in the town.

While every other attendee and journo was enthusiastic about the talks and presentations, I was inclined towards the hotel’s business strategies.  

It was intriguing to see two conferences happening simultaneously in two different banquet halls without any hassles. 

(I could see that the banquets are their cash cows, literally!)

So, I decided to ditch interviewing delegates and instead, write something on “How to improve hotel banquet sales?”.

I did a significant amount of research on this topic and in this blog, I am going to put down everything for you. I am sure this will help you (or hotels with banquets) increase your banquet sales.

The History of Banqueting

If you aren’t aware of what is banqueting in a hotel, then never mind. I will help you understand.

The word banquet is derived from the French word ‘Banque’ which means mass or gathering of people. However, it can also be defined as a feast for different occasions.

Banqueting is not a new concept. It’s been there for a long time. In the past (in the 16th & 17th century, to be precise), it was all about dinner and post-meal activities among important folks.

Here’s how it used to be: Guests would enjoy celebratory drinking of sweet wine after dinner. And then, the tables would get cleared to prepare the space for entertainment events.

This is basic, traditional banqueting!

However, with time, the idea of banqueting evolved and various other aspects started to add up. I will explain more about this in the next point.

The Current Scenario of Banqueting in Hotels

Celebrations have always been a vital part of our lives. And the modern hoteliers were quick to understand this. They were certain that hotel banquet services were going to be of great benefit. And why not? Banquets are an efficient and intriguing approach to hosting events.

Today, banqueting has become a significant part of the hospitality industry, offering customised services based on the guest requirements. 

Unlike the past, banqueting now hosts various types of events at any time during the day. That’s not all. It can also vary greatly from indoors to outdoors — be it gardens, farmhouses, restaurants, dedicated banquet halls, etc.

Furthermore, this new way of banqueting is also helping hotels increase their occupancy. Many business events take more than a day to wrap and for that time frame, certain folks stay in the hotel itself.

Simply put, banquets in hotels are not only turning into a full-fledged event-centric segment but also significantly contributing to the bottom line.  

10 Proven Ways to Increase Banquet Sales

Even though the hospitality industry has tapped into banqueting, not every hotel can successfully establish a sub-business out of it. They often wonder how to increase their banquet sales.

Along with smart strategies in place, hotels need to work extremely hard to stay ahead in this competitive domain. 

So, if you’re a hotelier with banqueting services or want to start one, then read on.

The following points will help you understand and also increase your hotel banquet sales.  

1. Analyse and decide on the demographics

Hotels tend to host all kinds of occasions when they start banqueting or want to improve banquet sales. However, that’s not a good practice. 

What you can do is, first understand what demographics does your hotel cater to, what sort of travelers are checking into your property, what kind of food are they ordering, what advice they have given you when you converse with them.

All of these things matter if you want to improve your hotel banquet sales.

Now, once you’re done with that, figure out what your compset is doing. Are they focusing on corporates? Or offering spaces for weddings? Or hosting events for observances?

Simply put, the idea is to find that middle ground between what your competitors are doing and what’s the need of the market.

2. Make your banquet space unique

Considering the preferences of modern events, it is important that hotels invest in making their banquet halls unique.

You can hire specialists to give a touch of a concept or a theme to your banquet hall. Further, it’s not just in terms of the ambience, but also food and waitering services.

For example: If you are inclined towards hosting business events and conferences, you can give it a corporate look or a relaxing business environment. Have enough space for teams, install high-speed internet routers and LED screens, have comfortable seating, offer free food and beverages (this can be a part of the package), etc.

3. Have a robust budget in place

This is another important point you must consider when you’re banqueting. Many hotels don’t understand the importance of having a budget and they go on to spend without a plan or a roadmap.

There are significant investments in hosting events and conferences, and without a budget, you might end up with a loss.

So, make sure you plan or estimate each expense beforehand.

Nobody wants to invest more than a required amount, be it anything. (I know, even you don’t!)Apart from that, consider the size of the event, number of attendees, manpower required, etc. This will help you plan as accurately as possible and ultimately, land more profit.

#ProTip: A strong budget helps you plan things better. You get to know your investments and ROI. So, why not use this to save a few bucks of your customer? Yes, you heard it right! When you know everything inside out, you can always advise your customers which helps them save. And guess what, you just landed a word of mouth marketing deal with this trick.

We have recently published a blog on budgeting. You can read it and see if it helps you. 

4. Improve your reputation

The mantra here is simple, you want people to speak and hear good about your hotel.

Now if you’re wondering why ‘hotel’? Because, here, we are talking about banqueting in hotels. Meaning, a hotel with a better reputation is likely to land more banquet sales.

So, how do we improve your hotel reputation?

We have multiple blogs on reputation management. You can read them here. They will definitely help you improve your hoteliering game.

Now let’s move on to the next point.

5. Upsell items and services

In the budgeting point, I mentioned you can always help your customers save a few bucks. But here, I am going to ask you to convince them to spend a little extra. 

(Don’t judge already! We aren’t duping anyone.)

This is where upselling comes into the picture.

Promote extra services and amenities for a certain amount. This will not only help you generate extra cash but also deliver a great experience to them.

For example: There’s a wedding at your banquet hall. Apart from the banquet hall and food services, you can offer them services like photography and videography at a certain price point.

Another example is: The same party hosting the event is looking to arrange wine for their guests. Instead of getting it from an outside vendor, you can offer the same. And it can be an add-on to the entire package.

6. Consider off-site catering as well

Most hotels prepare the food in their kitchen for banquet services. However, there are a certain number of risks involved.

Just because you have an event happening at your banquet hall, doesn’t mean your regular hotel operations are halted. Your kitchen must be already busy serving the in-house guests and people dining in your restaurant.

And if you allot the event’s food to the same kitchen, things might get haywire.

But when you turn to off-site catering, the food for the event gets prepared in a kitchen off-site and brought to your location. Again, you can also include this factor while making a budget.

Word to wise: Both Off-site and on-site catering works well during events. It’s just that you have to figure out what works for you. If your on-site catering doesn’t affect your regular hotel business, you can stick to that.

7. Network with other businesses

When you’re in the banqueting segment, it is really important to have certain business connects for different services.

You’re a hotel and you might not have all the knowledge about event management. But when you have connections with event management companies, you can always work in collaboration.

Many people love the idea of everything under one umbrella. And it would be amazing if you make the most out of it.

Offer your customers a complete event package that would cover each and every aspect. They just need to make the payment and you’ll take care of everything else.

For example: Your hotel banquet is up for wedding events. And when you have tie-ups with various wedding planners, you can always offer the folks an all-round wedding planning and management services along with your banquet hall.

8. Retain former customers

If someone had a great event at your banquet in the past, do maintain a healthy relationship with them.

You can always drop them timely calls and emails and let them know about the special discounts you’re offering to your former customers.

If required, deliver one or two complementary services.

Repeat businesses are a great way to improve your reputation as well as your banqueting bottom line.

9. Make a strategic marketing roadmap

For instance, you have amazing banquet space at your hotel with splendid ambience and all-round services.

But is that enough? How would people get to know about it?

This is where marketing saves your day. You might argue that word of mouth does a great job, but that’s just one part.

You have to invest in different types of banquet hall advertising ideas and activities — be it email marketing, content marketing, Facebook ads, or Google ads.

Do some market research, understand your demographics and roll out your marketing campaigns.

We have blogs for both hotel and restaurant marketing. You can steal some ideas from there.

• Ways to Use Storytelling for Brilliant Hotel Marketing
• 9 Excellent Hotel Social Media Marketing Strategies for 2021
• No-cost Creative Restaurant Marketing Strategies for 2021

Or, do let me know if you want a dedicated blog on Banquet Marketing. I will definitely try to write a blog on the same.

10. Ask for referrals

If you really need an answer to “How to increase banquet sales in a hotel?”, this is one of the vital points. 

Cement this in mind, “There’s nothing wrong in asking for referrals”.

Remember, networking is one of the master keys to business success. So, make sure you take advantage of your professional relationships and connections to get business referrals.